Sheet-metal-bilge-barrel-forming machine.



w. B. GODDARD.

SHEET METAL BILGE BARREL FORMING MACHINE.

APPLlcAloN mm JUNE 3. 191s.

1,285,982. Patented Nov. 26, 1918.

2 SHEETS- H Tl. M91. S ff s ILE s W. B. GODDARD.

SHEET METAL BILGE BARREL FORMING MACHINE.

APPLfcATloN FILED JUNE 3.1918.

1,285,982. Patented Nov. 26,- 1918.

iwa-

UNTTED sTATEs PATENT onirica.

WILLIAM B. GODDARD, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

SHEET-METAL-BILGE-BARREL-FORMING MACHINE.

blanks, with more particular reference to means for facilitating andexpediting the entire forming operation, including the positioning andadjusting of the blank, manipull lation of the expanding dies and theremoval of the formed barrel-body. In the present invention, theprinciples underlying the expanding operation per se do not differgreatly from those underlying the invention a practical and convenientembodiment of which was shown and described in a prior Patent, No.1,058,669, granted to me April 8,

i 1913, although I believe that I have improved upon theformerly-disclosed means for retracting the expanding dies after com- Ipletion of the expanding operation and otherwise simplied the mechanismwith a view to insuring greater accuracy, speed and dependability. Themachine embodying my former invention, however, While undoubtedlycapable of performing eminently satisfactory-not to say the verybest-results in so f ar as is concerned the character' and con dition ofthe product thereof, as well as other bilge-barrel forming machinesknown to me, are so generally constructed as to unnecessarily limit theoutput capacity thereo-f, due to a large extent, at least, to the timerequired to position and adjust the blank in the forming mechanism andremove the formed barrel-body therefrom.

The principal object of the present invention, therefore, may be said tobe the utilization of the principles of theinvention of my earlierpatent aforesaid in a machine which not only may be charged anddischarged with the utmost rapidity, but in which the means for carryingout said principles are materially simplified and improved. Incidentalto the above, I have in view a construction which is generally durable,dependable, not likely to get out of order or adjustment,` and the partsof which are readily accessible at any time for repair or replacement.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 26, 1918.

Application led June 3, 1918. Serial No. 237,854.

My invention will be more readily under-l stood by reference to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this speciication, in which-Figure 1 is a certain sectional elevation of a practical and convenient`embodiment of my lnvention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken substantially on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1, and

F1 3 is a horizontal section taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig.1.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, numeral 7 designates the sidewall of a preferably circular or cylindrical pit or chamber locatedbelow the floor-line (8) of the workroom, the upper edge of said wallbeing flushv with said floor-line. Vithin this pit or chamber is mountedthe metal cylinder 9 which forms thel ram-chamber of an hydraulic pumpor jack with the supply and d1scharge ducts 10 10, one of which may besaid to lead into the bottom of the rani chamber from any suitable orusual source of supply of liquid under pressure, and the other out ofsaid ram-chamber and back to said source of supply. These ducts 10 10are provided with cock-controlled valves whereby an operative mayquickly and readily control the flow of liquid into and out of theram-chamber. As this is a common and well-known expedient, adapted to becarried out in any number of common and well-known ways, and forms nopart of this invention, the control cocks are not shown in the drawings.The side wall 7 of the pit or chamber will generally be constructed ofconcrete, or possibly of bricks, and in either case the cylinder 9 maybe-and for stability I prefer should be-supported by means of the plate11 suitably secured to-but preferably, as shown, forming a flange on-theupper end of said cylinder and set into said side wall.

Within the ram-cylinder 9 is mounted to reciprocate-in the usual mannerthe pistonhead 12 at the lower end of the piston-rod 13 which has theusual slide bearings in the plate or cap 14 which seals the upper end ofthe ram-chamber. At the upper end of the rod 18 is mounted what may begenerally termed an annular platform 15 which preferably forms acombined external and internal flange at the top of theconico-cylindrical bracing support or carrier 16. The reasons for v theparticular construction and configuration of this platform and itssupporting or carrying means will subsequently be made clear, althoughit may be `best stated here that the portion of the platform whichconstitutes the .external flange to which I have referred is provided inorder that the same may be received within a corresponding groove or.channel in the prefer* ably metal ring 7 which I have shown as cappingthe side wall 7 of the pit, whereby when said platform is'in itslowermost position itis firmly' supported with its upper i face flushwith the floor-line, as indicated by the broken lines in Fig.' I. .'Ihecylinyis .drical blank fromv which thebarrel-body is to be formed isplaced upon the platform and the formed barrel-body vis removedtherefrom when said platform is in this depressed or lowerinostposition, and it will be apparent that these operations are facilitatedby eliminating all obstructions to the even sliding of the blank fromfloor to platform and of the formed barrel-body from platform to floor.The upper edge of the upper face of the circular platform l5 is L,.chainfered to provide a seat for the lower end of the cylindrical blank17 and a retaining shoulder 18 which prevents lateral movement of `rthisTend of the blank under action of the expanding dies as hereinafterdescribed. y v f Rigidly supported at a suitable distance above thevfloor-line is the heavy and preferably circular plate 19. It will beapparent that thisplate may be suspended from the ceiling of the room,or it maybe mounted upon cross-beams 2OI 20, properly spaced apart, asshown. On the under side of this i plate is an annular rib 21 shaped toform an internal annular shoulder providing a circular pocket or recessfor the reception of the. upper endof the cylindrical blank 17 whichlits reasonably snuglytherein, .whereby the upper end of the blank isheld against lateral movement under action of the form ing dies.Suspended from the plate 19 by means of a plurality of rods 22 22,having.

suitable retaining nuts at both ends thereof, is the heavy metalsupporting disk 23.

Between the disk 23 and the plate 19 is mounted an expander, made up, ofa phirality (I have shown six) of expanding dies "35 35. Exteriorly,these dies are substantially identical `with those shown and describedin detail vin my prior Patent No. 1,058,669, aforesaid. vEach die propercomprises a plate or web curved to correspond with the desired curvatureof the correspendingl area of the bilge-barrel body, and

the side edges of the dies are provided with interfitting inort-ises andtenons, or dovetailed, constituting fingers which bridge the space whichwould otherwise be left between two adjacent dies when the expander isin Vits expanded condition, as indicated in Fig.

2 and as shown and` described in detail in Bolted to the upper face ofthe plate 19y are arms 27 27 which carry thezrainecylinder-28 withinwhich reciprocates ythe piston 29. Suitably -secured to :and depending.

from the piston 29 is thepiston-rod 30 which passes through suitableslide bearings in the plate 19 and the disk 23. Fixed upon thisrod 3()yare the wedge-blocks 31 and 32, the former being located to coperatewith the inclined planes 2525 of the diewings 24 24: and the latterbeing located toy coperate with the inclined planes 26 26 of said wings,

whereby upwardmovement of said rod will with great power effect outwardmovement of said dies. and uniform expansion 'of theexpander as a whole.The ram-cylinder 28 is provided with the ducts 33 33 which correspond inall respects with the ducts 10 10 of the cylinder 9, have the samefunctions and are similarly controlled.

In the lower face of the plate 19 andwith-- in the recess provided bythe annular rib 21, are provided radially-disposed grooves or channels34 34, and each of the 'dies 35 has at its .upper end a block 36slidable in:

one of said grooves or channels. Similarly,

the upper face of the disk 23 is correspond-- ingly provided ywithgrooves or. channels 37 37 which receive the blocks 38 38 at the lowerends of the dies35 35. In this man` ner, expanding and contractingmovements. of the dies are guided and controlled. I

prefer to interpose rollers 39 39 between the lower blocks 38 38 and thebases of `the grooves 37 37 to overcome the friction which` wouldotherwise be generated by the weight of the dies and tend to prevent orimpair perfectly uniform expansion of the eX- pander as a whole.

iiov

To restore the expander to its normally contracted condition after anexpanding op# eration, to permit of the removal of vthe `formed barrelbody and the positioning of another blank, I have shown a compressionspring 40 interposed in each of the grooves 34 between the block 36therein and the end of said groove, while each of the lower blocks y38is provided with a bent rod 41 which clears the edge of the disk 23 andbe tween thelower end of which and a suitable pin or ypost @f2 on thelower face of said disk is interposed the tension spring 43. There beingno load to overcome during the contracting movement of these dies, thesesprings will effect contraction of the expander as a whole uponwithdrawal of the wedge-blocks 31 and 32 through downward movement ofthe piston-rod 30.

Initially, the platform 15 is in its most depressed and seated position,as hereinbefore described, and when said platform is in this position ablank 44: (see dotted lines in Fig. 1) is placed thereon and seated inthe recess provided by the retaining shoulder 18. Liquid under pressureis'then admitted to the ram-cylinder underneath the piston 12 in theram-cylinder 9 through one of the ducts l0, whichoperates to raise theplatform 15 until the upper end of the blank is received by and seatedwithin the recess provided by the shoulder 22 of the annular rib 21 onthe plate 19. TvVhile the blank is being withheld in this position,liquid under pressure is admitted to the ramechamber within the cylinder28 below the piston 29, which operates in the manner described to raisethe wedgeblocks 31 and 32 and force outwardly the dies 35 35 and formthe bilge-barrel body 45 (see dotted lines in Fig. 1). It is well knownthat sheet steel, even of the very best qual-ity, is not absolutelyhomogeneous, and unless the cylindrical blank is held against lateralmovement the weaker portions of the metal would be the first to yieldunder action of the expanding dies and the expansion would not beuniform.` Therefore, I provide the res taining shoulders 18 and 22`which irmly hold the blank against lateral and insure uniform expansion.

Upon` completion of the expanding or forming operation, 'the liquid isreleased from the ram-chamber within the cylinder 28, and the piston 29with its rod 30 is lowered by gravity (or is otherwise restored byconventional means) to its initially depressed position, depressing thewedges blocks 31 and'32 and thereby permitting contraction of theexpander under action of the springs 4:0 and 43 in the manner described.The liquid in the ram-chamber within the cylinder 9 is then 'dischargedthrough the other duct 10, and the platform 15 with the formedbilge-barrel body thereon descends to its initial position, the formedbarrel body is removed, and another blank is positioned for a repetitionof the forming operation.

v It is thought to be apparent that the device of the present inventionretains all of the advantages and improvements set forth in connectionwith the devicel of my prior patent aforesaid-possibly even to a moremarked degree-and in addition substantially and materially increases theoutput capacity of the machine. Furthermore, it will be noted Athat bysuspending the expander well above the floor line, the scale which peelso" the sheet steel during the expanding operation and the dirt andrefuse matter will fall or may be brushed upon the Hoor- Manymodifications of minor details of my improved sheet-metal bilge-barrelforming machine will doubtless readily suggest themselves to thoseskilled in the art to which it appertains, and I therefore do not desireto limit my invention to this specific construction herein shown anddescribed.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

l. The combination, with relatively elevated means for expanding acylindrical sheet-metal blank to bilge shape, said means including meansadapted to receive the upper end of the blank and hold the same againstlateral movement,of a vertically reciprocable platform adapted to raisea blank to and position the same in said expanding means, said platformbeing provided with means adapted to receive the lower end of the blankand hold the same against lateral movement during the expandingoperation.

2. The combination, with a relatively elevated expander adapted to forma bilgebarrel body from a cylindrical sheet-metal blank, and meansassociated with said expander adapted to receive the upper end of theblank and hold the same against lateral movement, of a verticallyreciprocable plat-l form adapted to raise a blank to said expander andsupport the same during the expanding operation, said platform being provided with means adapted to receive the lower end of the blank and holdthe sam against lateral movement. f i

3. The combination, with a relatively elevated expander adapted to forma bilgebarrel body from a cylindrical sheet-metal blank, and meansassociated with snaid expander adapted to receive the upper end of theblank and hold the same against lateral movement, of a verticallyreciprocable platform adapted to raise a blank to said expander andsupport the same during the expanding operation, said platform beingprovided with mea-ns adapted to receive the lower end of the blank andhold the same against lat-eral move-ment, and means for contracting saidexpander after the expanding operation to permit withdrawal of theformed barrel body with said platform when `the latter is lowered.

4. The con'ibination, with a relatively ele* vated expander adapted toform a bilgebarrel body from a cylindrical sl'ieet-metal blank, andmeans associated with said expander adapted to receive the upper end ofthe blank and hold the saine against lateral movement, of a verticallyreciprocable platform adapted to raise a blank to said expander andsupport the same during the expanding operation, said platform being provided with means adapted to receive the lower'end of the blank and holdthe same against lateral movement, and means for automaticallycontracting the expander af- *ter each iexpan'ding operation to permitwithdrawal of the formed barrel body with said platform when the latteris lowered.

5. In a machine for forming bilge-barrel bodies from cylindricalsheet-metal blanks,

the combination, with` a relatively elevated segments, kadapted to bemoved radially to have the former comprising separable effect ofexpanding said former, and means associatedwvith said former adapted toreceive the 'upper' end of the blank and hold the `same against lateralmovement under 1 action fof the former-segments, of a verticallyreciprocable platform adapted to raise a blank to said former andsupportv said blank during the `forming operation, said platform beingprovided with means adapted to receive the lower end of the blank andhold the same against. lateral movement.

6. In a machine for forming vbilge-barrel bodies from cylindricalsheet-metal blanks,

blank to said former and support the same during the forming operation,`said former being provided with means adaptedto receiveA the lower endofthe blank and hold thei same against lateral` `movement, and

means Vfor Vreturning said segments to their initial* felative positionsto have the effect of contracting said former and permit withdrawalofthe formed barrel body with said platform when the latter is lowered.

7 In a machine for forming bilge-barrel bodies from cylindricalsheet-metal blanks, the combination, with a relatively elevated formercomprising separable segments adapted to be moved radially to have theeffect of expanding saidv former, and means associated with said formeradapted to receive the upper end of the blank and hold the same againstlateral movementunder action of the former-segments, of a verticallyreciprocable platforniadapted to raise a blank to said former' andsupportthe same during the forming operation, said yformer beingprovided with means adapted to receive `the lower end of the blank andhold the same against lateral movement, and

means for automatically returning said seg-` ments to their initialrelative positions to have the effect of contracting said former andpermit withdrawal of the formed barrel body with said platform when thelatter is lowered. i

8. In a machine for forming bilge-barrel bodies from cylindricalsheet-metal blanks, the combination, and means for holding the ing saidformer, the segmental formerv when expanded being exteriorly ofsubstantially the size and ushape of the desired bilgebarrel body, eachof said segment-s being provided interiorly with correspondinglydisposed inclined faces, wedge-blocks betweenV and common to all vofsaid segments andacting against said inclined faces to move saidsegments radially to have the effeet of expanding said former, and meanscommon to allv of said wedge-blockstoactuate the same. j

'9. In a machine for forming bilge-barrel bodies from cylindricalsheet-metal blanks, the combination, and means for holding the extremeends only of said blank against lateral movement, of a former comprisinga plurality of separate segments adapted to be moved radially to havethe effect of expanding said former, the segmental former whenexpandedbeing exteriorly of substantially the size and shape rof the desiredbilgebarrel body, each of said segments being `provided interiorly' withcorrespondingly fect of expandingsaid former, said wedgeblocks beingfixed upon a rod adapted to move the same longitudinally of saidinclined faces, and means for reciprocating said rod.

. 10. In a machine for forming bilge-'barrel bodies from cylindricalsheet-metal blanks, the combination, and means for holding the extremeends onlyof said blank against lateral movement, of a former comprisinga plurality ofseparate segment-s adapted to be moved radially to havethe effect of expanding said former, the segmental former when expandedbeing exterior-ly of substantially the size and shape of the desiredbilgebarrel body, each of Vsaid segments ybeing provided interiorly witha radially disposed wing having correspondingly inclined faces on itsedge, wedge-blocks'between and com- `mon to all of said segments andacting against said inclined faces to move said segments radially tohave the effect of expand ing said former, and means common to all ofsaid wedge-blocks to actuate the same.

1l. In a machine for forming bilge-barrel bodies from cylindricalsheet-metal blanks,l

expanded being exteriorly of substantially the size and shape of thedesired bilge-barrel body, each of said segments being providedinteriorly With correspondingly disposed inclined faces, Wedge-blocksbetween and common to all of said segments and acting against saidinclined faces to move said segments radially to have the effect ofexpanding said former, means for reciprocating said Wedge-blocks, andsprings associated with said segments and adapted to return the latterto initial positions upon Withdrawal of said Wedge-blocks to have theeffect of contracting said former.

In testimony of the foregoing, I have hereunto set my hand in thepresence of two 15 Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve centseach, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

. Washington, D. G.

